1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the label transfer system of rotary labeling equipment, and in particular, to alignment tooling that is useful to properly align the label transfer system and to methods using the alignment tooling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rotary labeling equipment is widely used in the labeling industry. Increasing processing speeds for rotary labeling equipment leads to tighter tolerances for machine settings. Misalignment of the equipment leads to increased down-time to improperly labeled containers that must be reworked. Thus, there is a need in the art for new inventions that improve the functioning of rotary labeling equipment and that decrease equipment down-time.
Krones is a leading manufacturer of rotary labeling equipment. Krones labeling equipment is described in "Basics of Rotary Labeling", Sixth Edition, by Krones. Among other models, Krones manufactures Solomatic and Topmatic rotary labeling equipment. Krones manufactures a pallet timing fixture and a shop fixture for adjusting the gripper cylinder. The use of these fixtures to align the labeling equipment involves a significant amount of down-time and does not readily and repeatably provide for the proper alignment of all the necessary components of the label transfer system.